Queen Marchesa, Monarchs and keywords!

By now, we all know that Kaya killed Brago, and after Brago was dethroned (hah!), the one who usurped him was Marchesa, the Black Rose, who was also present for the original Conspiracy set. Today, her card was revealed, and it is indeed very interesting:

So, on face value, she’s a 3/3 Deathtouch, haste creature for four, in the Mardu colours. This is pretty neat for Mardu in EDH, even if she’s terribly overshadowed by other offensive powerhouses like Zurgo Helmsmasher and Kaalia of the Vast. Deathtouch means she’s a lot better on defense, however.

Further, she uses the new keyword “monarch” twice – and while exact rules aren’t quite known yet, it seems to be an emblem-like state in that being “monarch” doesn’t grant you a permanent which can be destroyed, but it can be removed, contrary to emblems. Here’s the token card used for The Monarch:

This seems like great fun in multiplayer, and it’s sure to be useful outside of Conspiracy 2 draft, in EDH specifically. The new Marchesa is a Phyrexian Arena on a stick in colours that are more than capable of keeping creatures off their backs. Mardu has all the best spot removal in the format, and it also comes with neat tricks such as Ghostly Prison and their like.

So far, we’ve only seen a few cards that interact with the monarch state, but I think it has great promise, and Marchesa makes me want to build a Mardu political deck full of neat value cards and utility removal.

Lastly, the fact that we have a true Monarchy of Roses brings joy to my heart: